Why 2d trees are the way to go

[Rens10]

I am pretty fed up about people here complaining about 2d trees and i'm sure i'm not the only one.
The simple facts are these:

2d trees cost much less memory, proc. power etc..
From a front view 2d trees look more like real life trees.
While actually playing the game, you RACE past the trees.

Now with these facts to hand you can easily see why peope complain about 2d trees. Alot of complaints are about screenshots and it's clear that in screenshots the above facts are a bigger problem than in movies or gameplay.
In some screenshots and especially in gameplay movies I love the 2d trees. They look very real and most of the time you are looking at them from the right side. Also keep in mind that thanks to these 2d trees PD are able to make other things better like for instance the cars.
Please stop whining about 2d trees, accept them and more importantly, UNDERSTAND why PD uses them.

 

[Worst_Driver]

It's simple, why don't we race in the desert, like willow springs, there would be no trees so nobody to whine about it. 💡

 

[Owen.C93]

It's a problem in photo mode and replays. Oh and if you crash alot

 

[Neenor]

I don't see why people whine about trees and stuff.

In my opinion the following things are not important:

Trees
Revers lights
Crowds

 

[phosphor112]

I don't see why people whine about trees and stuff.

In my opinion the following things are not important:

Trees
Revers lights
Crowds

The thing that confuses me about PD's amazing attention to detail is that they have never had reverse lights. Almost everything else is exact in their cars, but not the reverse lights? Why is that? Oh well, you shouldn't be going in reverse anyway lol.

 

[theM3rcenary]

2d trees or 3d trees I really don't care, I care about the racing and the cars.

 

[TokyoDrift]

Posts like this are all very noble, but ultimately rather hypocritical. So some people don't like the look of the 2D trees, that's fine. These are forums and people will voice their opinion just as you have yours. However, whining about people whining...

Personally, I think the game as a whole looks fantastic, but there are weaknesses and omissions that will naturally spark discussion and debate.

 

[Strittan]

From a front view 2d trees look more like real life trees.

This. 👍

2D trees simply looks more realistic than 3D modeled ones, so stop whining about such a ridiculous thing, please.

 

[FLASH48]

Maybe with the PS4 people will get there 3D trees! I could really care less about the trees, i'm more interested in staying on the track.

 

[MANU56BZH]

LOL the question...

It's not a FPS you dont need too see trees near for use it, like far spectator.

Is the 80% of trees in track 'r in 2D, espacialy in Nurb it's for computation load off the console. Can you imagine the size of the Nurb track and all the 3D things than can be put on the map ???
PS3 is not a NAZA computeur.
We can have wonderfull full detailled cars it's really good.

 

[Maxitsu]

2D trees are fine. why you want 3D trees? besides i like to have better IA, better Damage and rain effects instead of a bunch of trees.

 

[JohnBM01]

Rens10, I've never disliked 2D trees. Even I know the advantages of 2D trees. I'm just not fond of people thinking that just because this is a next-gen console that EVERYTHING has to be high-res. I even remember playing the demo to the first MotorStorm. Some of the high bits of grass were psuedo-3D sprites (just like many things in most popular first-person shooters of the 1990s).

You speak the truth, Rens10.

 

[Gaz Vonhammer]

I dont have problem with the trees.
I dont think we'll get proper 3D trees in GT until PS4,i'm sure just before or after GT5p launched,Kaz said in a interview that GT on PS3 was about getting the cars to a high level,and he's planning on getting the tracks to that level on the next hardware.

 

[Forgetful]

Instead of the two plane X trees, they should have at least added a few more layers *

Even one or two more would make them far less noticeable.

That is all I have to say on that matter.

 

[Rens10]

Thanks for (some of) the replies guys

And I know this is a forum and people can have their opinions, that's fine obviously.
But complaining that 2d trees are ugly and PD should use 3d trees is another thing in my opninion.
As GTplanet members, I think I can say we all love the GT series and so we all should be thankful to PD.
That is the reason we shouldn't complain about (imo) non important things like the lack of 3d trees and why I started this topic.

 

[G.T.Ace]

they should have at least added a few more layers

Why are you thinking they haven't tried something like this before?
Think about it, your example would make the trees 0.5 times bigger then they are now, this on the thousands of trees on the Nordschleife could already be too much.

And some of the trees are already more detailed.

EDIT:
Btw. download Google SketchUp, place 20 2D trees in a scenery, then replace them with more detailed 3D trees and see what happens.

EDIT²: And another thing, at least the foliage in GT5 is not made out of 2D sprites that always "look" in your direction.

 

[Jedi2016]

It really depends on how the trees are done. In truth, PD's trees are 3D.. and poorly done. The "X" method of making trees worked on the PS2, but they're showing their age on the PS3. Full-blown 3D trees would not make such a huge dent in performance as people think, if they're done properly.

You guys have seen Crysis, right? Best vegetation ever in a video game. Surprisingly low-poly.. it's all done with textures and shaders. Even if they went a similar route with GT's trees, it wouldn't be an appreciable increase in the poly-count for the track.

 

[FishforRent]

Ridiculous common sense post alert:

EVERYTHING shown on a flat screen is ................wait for it.................2 dimensional.

Can't believe a thread was made for this, AND I posted on it.......

*hides*

 

[paskowitz]

Ridiculous common sense post alert:

EVERYTHING shown on a flat screen is ................wait for it.................2 dimensional.

Can't believe a thread was made for this, AND I posted on it.......

*hides*

just to rebut... GT5 is going to be one of the games that will be playable in 3D. Not that I or anyone really cares.

 

[FishforRent]

just to rebut... GT5 is going to be one of the games that will be playable in 3D. Not that I or anyone really cares.

'Simulated'. Until we get a hologram enabled GT5, and holograph emitters, it's all 2d....But I get your point.

I just needed to be sarcastic when I noticed this thread.

 

[blackjack]

also, we haven't seen much in terms of what will be in the "rally" part of GT5. I wonder if these tree might have to be different if they are becoming the boundaries of the track and will most likely be driven into at times. So much we don't know yet... or is that what Kaz wants us to believe?

 

[Zer0]

also, we haven't seen much in terms of what will be in the "rally" part of GT5. I wonder if these tree might have to be different if they are becoming the boundaries of the track and will most likely be driven into at times. So much we don't know yet... or is that what Kaz wants us to believe?

To all the people asking for 3D trees, have you ever played GT4 or GT5P?...

 

[Mr Latte]

This thread is a bit silly all because of what was being discussed in other thread.
In general yes how important are better defined trees and the cars should be the stars of the show.

To be fair just as some are easier to feel disappointed about certain things, for me its always been jaggies their are folk on these forums that come acorss as over excited or indeed often have praise thats more than deserving about the game.

GT5 as a game will have a whole host of issues and problems and personally I think people shouldnt be cut off for small criticisims in areas that well actually should have a degree of criticisim. Some of the people here act like they are amazed, blown away with the recent videos when really yes the improvements are their to be seen and are much appreciated yet its to me anyways a good gradual improvement in graphics and nothing more really.

 

[Tapey]

Personally I'm glad that PD have stuck with 2D trees. I know a lot of people criticize them because Forza 3 has 3D trees, but at the same time Forza 3 has considerably less greenery in it's tracks which just doesn't look as nice in my opinion. I think Turn 10 for all their bullishness and arrogance, have held back just how nice their game could look by going for things such as 3D trees which really are not very important.

I mean compare the GT5 and Forza 3 versions of the Nurburgring. The Forza 3 version may have 3D trees yeah, but there are waaaaaaaaaay less of them, and as a result the track just doesn't look as nice as it could. Comparatively the GT5 versions may have 2D trees, but there is a huge amount of them, and the track looks absolutely gorgeous with such a huge amount of vegetation.

As long as 2D trees continue to look so much nicer than 3D ones, I'll continue to prefer them.

 

[CoolColJ]

A good 2D tree is better than a bad low poly 3D tree

even the trees in Oblvion aren't that great, considering that it's a first person game

 

[ShawnPhillips]

I mean compare the GT5 and Forza 3 versions of the Nurburgring. The Forza 3 version may have 3D trees yeah, but there are waaaaaaaaaay less of them, and as a result the track just doesn't look as nice as it could. Comparatively the GT5 versions may have 2D trees, but there is a huge amount of them, and the track looks absolutely gorgeous with such a huge amount of vegetation.

I did a race on the ring in Forza 3 today and I couldn't help but think the track looked like crap. GT4 running in upscaled 1080p on my PS3 looked better in my opinion.

 

[G.T.Ace]

I mean compare the GT5 and Forza 3 versions of the Nurburgring. The Forza 3 version may have 3D trees yeah, but there are waaaaaaaaaay less of them, and as a result the track just doesn't look as nice as it could. Comparatively the GT5 versions may have 2D trees, but there is a huge amount of them, and the track looks absolutely gorgeous with such a huge amount of vegetation.

And this is exactly the point, the GT5 'ring is so far the only one where all the forests are almost perfectly recreated. I already heard/read comments from people who raced there in real life and they are all blown away. Even a GTRP member who is more a Forza fan (*cough*) said it's almost worth it to buy a PS3 and GT5 just for the Nürburgring, because it's that close to the real one.

 

[magburner]

It's simple, why don't we race in the desert, like willow springs, there would be no trees so nobody to whine about it. 💡

Then, they would complain about the 2d cactus! Or should that be cacti?

 

[Griffith500]

A good 2D tree is better than a bad low poly 3D tree

even the trees in Oblvion aren't that great, considering that it's a first person game

Even the trees in oblivion aren't "true 3D" - they're done using early speedtree tech. As such, the leaves are in bunches as sprites, so they orient themselves to the camera at all times. There are several sprites for each branch, however, giving the necessary impression of layers and depth. The imposters for those speedtrees (introduced using LOD systems at further distances) are just X-style 2D billboards, excluding the trunks which are flat, camera-oriented billboards with partly transparent textures. Morrowind, I'm not so sure - I've not played the vanilla version fo' time, so I can't remember.

The trees in the Grand Canyon vid are the same. The best trees I've ever seen are the semi-procedural ones by Bohemia Interactive in their ARMA games.

That said, all trees in contemporary video games are 2D, since they are comprised of 2D polygons...

I'm very impressed with the trees in the revamped Nürburgring, as seen in the videos from the 24hr race. The sense of location is heightened - the climb through the valley to Angstkurve, for instance, is obviously in a valley now, and the sense of depth is incredible. All using clever billboarding - go PD!

 

[alfredchiwai]

It's extremely ridiculous IF the release is delayed by the complaints of trees. No, please, I want the game not the 3D trees.